Alexander Mackenzie Trail Trip for 2015

binch · August 05, 2015, 08:59 PM

Good write up Trevor! I'll add my two cents worth......There was some burned sections of the trail (day two and three I believe) and they were not bad at all. But the Pine Beetle kill in that area was horrendous and the deadfull and blowdown was a nightmare come true. They've begun logging out some of the dead or affected timber in the area near the gravel road that comes up from Highway 20, about 1/3 of the way in from the east. There were so many places we were at I didn't recognise at all!!! The fish champ we stayed at....Forestry burnt all the building to the ground as the leasie hadn't paid his rent. Very strange looking there now...but a very nice camp site. The alder has spread to the east of where it was on the west end of the trail and that was where the thickest of the deadfall was. John will appreciate this....we did more cutting in one day on the 2015 trip then what we did on the entire 2008 trip (x2). Using 3 saws (two light weights and my binford special) we spent an enormous amount of time cutting good size logs off the trail. It was truly a daunting task but the group persevered. The last two day were absolute killers!!! But waking up to the still waters on Gotcha Lake and going for a refreshing swim was truly heaven on earth!!!! The big mud holes we had in 2008....the hill was still there but the 200' pull was bypassed to the north (thank Christ for that). We started off with a relatively modest pace but it was soon evident that we were in for a heck of a lot of work and folks were going to learn a life lesson out of it.

All 5 defenders finished under their own power. Damages were:

- Dave spun a drive member so replaced that and put in a better axles shaft (1.5 hours)

- Emad had tube issues (sounds very familiar to my 2008 experiences) and that totaled some 3 hours or so. Something also happened to his rear door which had to be pried open (dave will explain later). But nothing a piece of rope couldn't cure. 1 torn out side wall and a couple of extra dents on the one side.

- Craig and I lost a tire when the side wall was torn on a piece of burnt tree root, that kicked up after the truck went over it. Lost my front left headlight and panel driving into a 4" diameter log buried in the alder and for the life of us we still can find the chocolate bar!!!!!! 1/2 hour to change tire. I lost my drivers mirror within the first few miles when a small branch got kicked up and hit the mirrow so hard it broke the lense. I kept two of the big pieces to tape in place for the ride home. My viscous coupling failed sometime over the trip and where I noticed it was when we began to climb the 4000' out of Bella Coola. Only solution was to go fast, with the heater on full, and try to get air blowing through the rad ;-) Emad had a spare with him so we swapped it out at the top of the hill.

- Trevor added a couple of new dings to the body but nothing major.

- Jeffrey has two new offroading doors, lost one side wall of a tire and had a few issues with his Salisbury Diff guard that ended up with a dent in the diff cover and wore a hole through it. A bit of JB weld and that was good to go but the diff guard was mangled. He also ran out of fuel on the way to the trail ;D

No obvious damage to any steering, no failed half shafts, etc. Very successful in that regard ;-)

But it was a lot of fun sitting around the fire in the evenings together, licking our wounds and laughing about the silly parts of the day. It wasn't a thousand miles across Borneo but the work was there to make it one heck of a tough run!!!! Not for the faint of heart or weak of spirit!

B-Red · August 06, 2015, 10:29 AM

Well written Trevor and Bill.

We lost few lenses on the signals. Bill had to replace his Viscouse fan coupler.

What I came out of this trip is conquering fear and team work. Yes, it's spooky when you have to walk in the forest with darkness all around you. You only see three feet out. The wind crackles the trees and branches sound like animal steps. Would be nerve wrecking if you are alone.

We got to see Mother Nature at its best. Something a camera could never show. There are frogs running around. Black beetles husling for food and ants all over you when you rest on the ground.

Yep. It was a great experience. Now, how can we top that!!!lol